Mokeski facing charges

Thiensville, Wis.  Kansas City Knights basketball coach Paul Mokeski has been charged with misdemeanor possession of cocaine in this suburb north of Milwaukee.

Mokeski, 43, recently appointed coach of Kansas City's charter American Basketball Association franchise, played at Kansas University and with the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks from 1982-89. He recently moved from California to Overland Park.

According to the charge filed Wednesday in Ozaukee County Circuit Court, police stopped Mokeski early on the morning of June 9 on suspicion of drunken driving, and he was booked into the jail at 4:05 a.m.

While he was being searched, deputies found a folded paper with "a white powdery substance which appeared to be cocaine," the complaint says.

"It was confiscated from Mr. Mokeski and after advising him of his rights, he indicated it was cocaine that was in the folded paper and he had paid $100 for the cocaine," the complaint says.

Mokeski told deputies "he had snorted a couple of lines of the cocaine about an hour before he was stopped by police," the complaint says, and "he also indicated that he uses cocaine on a regular basis."

He was released about 8:30 a.m. after posting bail of $1,137.Mokeski was ordered to appear Aug. 10 before Circuit Judge Tom R. Wolfgram. He could face up to a year in prison and $5,000 fine if convicted. He was also issued municipal citations for drunken driving and speeding.

The Knights are set up to open the ABA season this fall.

Knights general manager Tom Cheatham issued a statement Friday night saying the team was investigating the incident.

"Once we are confident that we have all of the necessary information, and the judicial process has been completed, we will make a decision on what the appropriate action is," Cheatham said in the release. "We will move as quickly as possible to resolve this issue, however we want to make sure we have all the facts."